


Moving on

by TatianaMalfoy



Series: Call it what you want [1]
Category: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cussing, F/M, Fluffy Ending, Strong Language, Violence, Violence against women
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:20:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28205253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TatianaMalfoy/pseuds/TatianaMalfoy
Summary: Reader has been with the Shelbys since she was a child. What happens when Grace walks into their lives and turns Reader's life upside down? All things left to fester will be brought up at some point.
Relationships: Alfie Solomons/Reader, Grace Burgess/Tommy Shelby, Tommy Shelby/Reader
Series: Call it what you want [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2074353
Comments: 4
Kudos: 68





	Moving on

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This is my first Peaky Blinders story so it obviously doesn't belong to me.
> 
> I hope to see you all in the comments to tell me what you think of it. As it stands, this is a complete story, but if you guys want to read more, I can certainly think of a few more things I could say.

The meeting had been going on for close to an hour when they heard two sets of steps coming down the hallway.

Shoulders tensed and backs straightened around the room just in the time for the door to slam open and hit the wall with a resounding bang.

"Just what the fuck is goin' on here?" Tommy Shelby barks as he sits in the doorway, his eyes looking from face to face until they get to hers.

She was sat next to his desk, her curly hair tucked behind her ears but still messy from her own peaky hat. She refused to wear Aunt Polly's version of a hat and wore one just like the rest of the men.

"What's it look like, Tommy boy? It's a meeting", she frostily replied, not at all bothered by the vein that was pulsing in his forehead but by the woman sitting just behind Tommy, both of her hands holding on to one of his as if he would keep her safe.

Y/N wanted to snort but she managed to barely restrain herself from doing it. If she had put her mind to killing the blonde, she would have been dead long before Tommy gathered his wits to save her, consequences be damned. She was still holding on to the hope that he would wise up soon and listen to her and Arthur, but the moment was coming, no matter how much Tommy liked to pretend that it didn't. If Tommy continued to bury his head in the sand and pretend the people around him were talking shit, then she would take care of the problem. One way or another, this was ending soon.

For his part, Arthur opened his mouth to try and placate the two before the bomb exploded in their betting shop, but one look from Y/N had him closing his mouth and sitting back with a sigh, resigned to let the woman see this through to the end. He knew it was long coming. He had even been waiting for it to happen sooner rather then later. Hell, they all did, but he could admit that this was going to be a mess to clean up no matter who won.

Exchanging quick glances, John and Finn could barely contain their laughter when they saw how quickly Arthur lost his fire from just one of her looks, but despite everybody thinking that they were the "stupid Shelbys", they knew this was not the time to have her anger directed at them. It never was the right time to have her angry at them if they were honest, but this was definitely not the time to egg her on. So they swallowed thickly and looked away from one another to keep from laughing.

Aunt Polly sighed and quickly did the sign of the cross, praying this would not end end up in bloodshed...However, knowing the two since their nappies, she knew that the chance of this ending peacefully were zero to none. As for her own private thoughts and desires? She hoped it would be the blonde's blood that would stain the floors tonight. She wouldn't even complain having it clean it up...much.

"Why is this meeting taking place? And why wasn't I informed? Have you lost your fucking mind?!?" Tommy shouted as he crossed the floor and stopped next to her.

She rolled her eyes and answered him.

"Why? Why is there a meeting? Because racing season starts next week, Tommy. And we've been all been waiting patiently for orders. But you've had your head so far up your barmaid's skirt that you either forgot or you didn't care. So I did it for you. And I was there when Arthur reminded you of the meeting this morning, you said you would be here and then you hurried your ass out of the house. I'm assuming you went back to check if she put on clean underpants this morning since you came here with her attached to you like a limpet."

Grace gasped but nobody paid her any mind. Tommy was beyond enraged and Y/N was getting there as well. What the fuck had he been thinking when he brought his bitch along with him?!? The boys were amused, Arthur was torn between siding with Y/N, who was right and Tommy, who was his brother. Aunt Polly was chain smoking at this point.

"Oi! You watch your fuckin' mouth there, Y/N!"

"Or what, Tommy? Huh? Whatcha gonna do? Come on, Tommy, I'm waiting!"

In the back of her mind she realized that goading Tommy like this was not the best thing to do at that time, but she was too far gone to give a fuck. She had had it.

"Everybody, get out! NOW!" Tommy shouted again, slamming his palms on top of his desk.

The others moved to get out of their chairs but Y/N turned in their direction, glaring and hissing at them. "You sit your asses down now! Ya ain't goin' nowhere!"

"Y/N, maybe-"

"I said no, Arthur! Have you gone deaf?!? If Tommy here wants to fight, that's fine by me. But you're all staying here since this has been affecting all of us. Not just me."

Arthur couldn't deny that, so he sat back and resigned himself to watching the two tear each other apart.

"Affecting you? Whatchu babblin' about, woman?!?" Tommy asked her, looking between her and his family as if they had lost their minds. "And since when the fuck are you running meetings?"

It was her turn to shout, her tone matching the exasperation on her face. "Since you haven't been around, Tommy!"

Tommy looked as if she had slapped him. How the fuck dare she! He took a step in her direction, but so did she, meeting him, step for step until their noses almost touched each other. 

"Do it! I dare ya! Hit me! And with God as ma witness, I promise ya, Thomas Shelby, I'll kill ya dead right where ya stand!"

"You've lost your mind, Y/N! What's goin' on with you?"

"With me?!? Are you kiddin' me right now, Tommy? The past few months? It's as if you were back in the war and I was left with Polly to wipe Finn's arse and take care of the business! Only this time, you weren't really gone and just plain old ignored the shit that needed to get done."

Everybody ignored Finn's cry of indignation and John's chortle. Y/N wasn't finished. Not by a long shot. Now that she started, she wasn't going to stop until she laid everything on the table.

"When's the last time you held a meeting, huh? And yet, the money kept coming. When's the last time you checked in on Sabini and the rest? And yet, John's arm is still in a sling from the bullet he took two weeks ago!"

Had it not been for the gravity of the situation, Y/N would've laughed when Tommy's head turned to John, who in response, wiggled the fingers of his injured arm in his face.

"Y/N, this isn't your job!-"

"Damn right it ain't, Tommy! I'm not the boss. If I were, I wouldn't let everybody down just to spend everyday chasing a skirt. Yet, I've been doin' your job for two months now, Tommy! Two months. Day in and day out!"

"Nobody fucking asked you to! Now shut up!"

"I swear I will fill you with bullets if you tell me to shut up again. Nobody asked me? You're right. But they are my family. They have been my family since I can't even remember. You were too, Tommy. Why do you think I did all of this now? Why do you think I did it when you three went to war? Polly couldn't do everything then. She shouldn't have had to do it now either. So I stood up. Took the reins. And look at that: money keeps coming in from the connections I tied to the Blinders. Ada ain't dead or working in a whore house because I took care of that shit. Finn ain't bein' called stupid no more. He knows his words and numbers better than you all do. Because I taught him. While you all wrote him off as stupid, I took time to give him the right tools. Me. Not you, not Arthur, not Polly. Polly was sick of taking care of kids when you left and she had the business to worry about. So I took care of him the best I could while also helped grow the business. So yes, Tommy, the Blinders are as much mine as they are yours and I will not let you throw everything down the shitter just because you want to keep fucking that bitch!"

Before any of them could react, Tommy's hand moved and made contact with her cheek.

In a move that again, no one saw coming, it was Finn who got to Tommy first and punched him, pushing him away from Y/N, who was slowly wiping the blood from her split lip with the sleeve of her button down. The red spreading and slowly staining the white made Tommy's thoughts come back together.

Arthur had put his hand on her shoulder and Polly put herself between the two as John struggled to keep Finn away from Tommy. When had the bugger gotten so strong?

All this time, Grace stood in the doorway, watching as the drama unfolded in front of her eyes.

"You son of bitch! How could you hit her?!?"

Finn was shouting and cursing and struggling in John's grasp. He looked like a pitbull ready to be thrown in a ring to fight.

"Finn, settle down!" She tells him and the fight leaves his body as he turns to her, raising his eyebrow as if to ask her if she was sure.

She nodded her head and turned to Arthur. She put her hand on his cheek and said "I know he's your brother, but when her scheme is up and takes down Thomas, I hope you all will be smart enough to see it coming and run before she takes you down with him."

With that, she took the hand from her desk and threw it at Tommy's feet. "You're only alive because I want you to live and see the results of her betrayal. But I advise you don't cross my way again as I might forget this moment and my finger will slip. Consider this my resignation."

"Y/N, baby, no!" Pol cried. The girl had been like her daughter for the last 20 or so years and it was breaking her heart to see her go.

"It's ok, Pol. It's time for me to move on. Isn't that what good gypsies do? They travel and travel and travel, never mourning the departure from one place. Well, it seems I may have overstayed my welcome here so I'll go looking for a new home."

"But you have one here!" John intervened, feeling week at the knees. While it was true that Finn had been practically raised by her, John had also been for a while. She was like the sister that he actually wanted and was the shoulder he could use to rest. Especially when he came home from the war.

She smiles sadly, and even though this was hurting her, she still felt the love coming from her boys and Pol.

Thomas had gone silent; the situation had escalated and he was now well and truly fucked. He would be paying for this until Kingdom Come. He was sure of it. But his pride didn't let him beg for forgiveness. What would Grace think?

"You three make sure you don't put Pol into an early grave, ok? John, promise me you'll stop picking on Finn so much. And Finn? Stop antagonizing your brother. I love you, but they'll beat you black and blue once I'm gone. Arthur, I beg you. This life is not for you anymore, brother. Please think about taking a step away. I don't know how much longer your head and heart will take it. Pol, take care of my boys. And you make sure you clip them good if they toe out of line, ok?"

They all nodded and she nodded back, before she turned and left the room, not giving Tommy or Grace another look. 

Come morning, Birmingham would be buzzing with the news that one of the heads of the Peaky Blinders had left town.

2 years later

Alfie looked at the men sitting across his desk and scowled. He wanted nothing more than to be at home with his wife, but he had to sit here with the fuckers and pretend to be interested in the bullshit they were trying to sell him.

His hip was hurting as his sciatica was acting up and he was hungry since he didn't get the chance to eat his breakfast. He ended up having to throw most of it away before the kitchen turned into a puking fest. This should show her how much he loved her as he gave up on those fritters for her.

He sat there wondering why it was the youngest that was running the show for his "friends", but then he remembered what his missus had told him. She was the reason for that. She sat with that boy every day, come hell or high water and taught him everything she knew. It seems that as the years passed he put that to good use and ran circles around his fucking brothers. Good lad, Alfie thought to himself, but he still hoped that he would be done soon so he could send them packing and he could take a sweet cake back to his missus and maybe cuddle her a bit.

As he tried to stiffle a yawn, the lad's new sentence was cut off by the shouting of a woman. "Donchu lie to me, Ollie! Get out of my way before I box your ears in, you blumbering idiot!"

For someone who was always on his case for shouting at Ollie, she sure had a way with words as well when it came to the boy.

"But ma'am, the boss said-"

"I don't bloody care what the boss said or what God said, you get out of my way before I make sure you can't give Mary any more pretty babies! You decide!"

He waited to see how long it would take Ollie to give up, but he didn't get to the count of two before the door of the office slammed open to reveal his fiery missus in the doorway.

"Alfie Solomons, you bas-"

Her words cut off as she came face to face with three men she hadn't seen in years.

The men had heard her voice outside and as it came closer to the office they all held their breath. It couldn't be, could it? What business would she have here?

All doubts went away when the door opened and they turned to look at the intruder.

She was dressed in a large button down that clearly wasn't hers, with a flowy skirt and her now long chestnut hair that was plaited in a braid that rested on her left shoulder. She had a large dog basically attached to her hip and a hand was resting on her equally large belly. She had never looked more beautiful.

They sat up so quickly that they sent the chairs to the floor and went to move in her direction before the dog jumped in front of her and started growling and snarling, looking between the three and daring one of them to approach.

Alfie decided then and there that he would never again complain about Cyril's stinky breaths and farts. He was also going to give his mutt a huge steak for dinner. He obviously deserved it.

As she took them in, her heart was playing tricks. So was the baby, but then again, the baby was always doing that lately. For the first time in years, Arthur, John and Finn Shelby stood in front of her. Arthur looked better than he ever had, even in the years before they had gone to war. John stood taller than she remembered and proud. And was that baby puke on his lapel? And Finn, her pride and joy. He stood strong and tall and ready to never let her go again.

"Gentlemen, I'm told you know my wife, Y/N?"


End file.
